According to the folks at MoveOn.org, "The White House didn't request a single dollar for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in this year's budget -- Congress had to take the unusual step of adding in $300 million."

Oh, wait, that was last year's war, so it's over, and we don't have to worry about the well being of the Afghans any more. Never mind.

*

More worldwide protests spring up everywhere. Even in Switzerland! (Since when do the Swiss protest?) At protests breaking out around Africa, "Archbishop Desmond Tutu said the attack on Iraq was an 'immoral' war in which America was abusing its power."

*

I haven't listed any cool Quaker peace groups yet, have I? the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a very worthy group.

*

I still love Move On's anti-war leaflets. They're concise, and have all the best facts. Of course, their Win Without War site is still great, as are their photos from the March 16th global candlelight vigils.

*

Last link of the night: Mark Fiore's brilliant Blusterizer animation.

Direct Action to Stop the War is another organization I need to add to my list of anti-war groups. They helped coordinate many of this week's massive civil disobedience actions.

*

"Hey, Arlene! Why are people protesting in the street? It's not like the President cares what they do."

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but the point of protesting is not an all-or-nothing, 'change the Bush Administration's policies or bust' action. It has many purposes: it's let's people abroad know that Americans do not all support war over diplomacy; it provides a community outlet for those opposed to the war to join and communicate; and it attracts the attention of the corporate media, who have completely disinfranchised the majority of Americans and who are otherwise unwilling to acknowledge that dissent even exists. All of those are legitimate goals, and protesting accomplishes them.

It's quite uplifting to march with tens of thousands of people who share a strong desire for a peaceful world. I highly recommend it, for those who haven't tried it.

[Ani Di Franco performed for Not In Our Name, and at the concert she related a story about an Australian interviewer, who wanted to know if she penned her songs for the U.S. President. She said something like, 'I'm not sure how it works here in Australia, but I'm pretty sure the President could give a @#$%^ less about my poems. I'm writing these songs for the people who want peace, to support and join THEM.']

"But protesting backs up traffic!"

Pedestrians have no problems. I've been able to move through protest-filled areas with no problems. The police only redirect cars. You're not _driving_ downtown, are you?

"Well... Anyway, I want to get home on time!"

I'm sure people said that during the civil rights marches in the 1960s. But the minor inconvenience to people consenting to an unjust status quo AND to those sympathetic to the cause of civil rights was worth a few minutes stuck in traffic. Trust me on this one.

Things are getting worse: journalists have been evacuated from Baghdad.

Every single building I can see is in flames," said the BBC's Paul Wood as he surveyed the city from his vantage point in the city....

But also:

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says he plans to approach the United Nations legal department and ask them to declare the war illegal.

French President Jacques Chirac says he will not accept a US-British post-war administration of Iraq, adding that the UN is the only body which can be responsible for rebuilding the country.

*

A report by a Baghdad resident is a reminder that under the euphemistic language about 'targets' and 'enemy tanks,' there are PEOPLE living there. There are children living in Baghdad. It is their home.

The gee-whiz-cool-toy reporting of the major networks tries to make us forget this. But it's the most important thing.

*

Anti war protests continue around the U.S. and the world. The helicopters circling downtown SF as I write this are distracting. They've been there all morning, since the demonstrators gathered at 7 a.m.

*

Newshour had a nice feature, a discussion between historians about the war. Howard Zinn had quite a bit to say.

JIM LEHRER: Howard Zinn, what did you think of the president's case for war?

HOWARD ZINN: Well, as Robert Dallek, says it's the usual case but the one thing that is missing in so much of the discussion is that we are going to kill a lot of people in this operation. It's all well and good to talk about the promise of a different Iraq, a democratic and free Iraq, a promise which is very dubious considering the history of the United States.

It's a history in which it has not been very good at creating democracy, a history in which it has rather supported dictatorships around the world, but we are going to kill -- and think of it this way -- we talk about Saddam Hussein and what he's doing to the people of Iraq -- we are going to kill the victims of Saddam Hussein. The civilians of Baghdad are going to be living under terrorism.

We are concerned about terrorism. War is terrorism. The people of Baghdad are going to be terrorized. Shock and all, we are going to unleash enormous numbers of bombs on the cities and villages of Baghdad. Now we can't... that is certain. What is uncertain is the future. When you face certain horrors in war and uncertainties about the outcome, morally you cannot go along with this war.

And I think that's why most of the world is outraged at what the United States is about to do. They are right. President Bush is right now the greatest danger to world peace. He is also the greatest danger to our young men and women whom he is sending into combat. Those who die, not just those who die in Iraq, but those people in our armed forces who die, they will die because President Bush has grandiose ambitions for American power in the world. They will die because of oil. They will die because of politics. They will die because of the need of the United States government to expand its power. Those are not good reasons for people to die -- there or here.

An interesting thing about this interview is the argument by Walter Russell Mead in support of war.

But I'd like to say in terms of the killing of civilians that the sanctions regime actually kills one to five thousand civilians -- children under five -- a month which is the number of people who... civilians who died in the Gulf War. The status quo is not peace in Iraq. The status quo is a slow war and civilians are dying. So I think ending the slaughter of civilians is a legitimate goal of the government.

So, because sanctions are killing civilians, we should bomb them, rather than simply ending the sanctions. Interesting approach.

I tried to watch corporate media. It's all old white men in desert fatigues, oohing and aaahing over how cool tanks are.

Oh, please.

*

Disclaimer: I misspell "protesters" quite a bit. Please forgive me.

*

Agent Apple of the Biotic Baking Brigade ("Speaking Pie to Power"), who was reporting to SF Indymedia on BBB member Tart Classique's pie-ing of a talking head from sensationalistic local TV station KTVU, made a good observation. To paraphrase, 'The corporate media IS the war machine. They have the same boards of directors... It's not just a case of unfairness [in their reporting], it's a case of serving their own basic interests.'

Well put, Agent Apple!

*

Indymedia just reported that Peter Jennings is saying 1400 people have been arrested in SF. While that particular fact hasn't yet been confirmed, the hosts referred to his reporting as his "Dreamcast." They're also savaging the 'tank cam,' and it's shoddy images of the desert. It's refreshing, after the value-free, gee-whiz 'war gadgets are cool' quality of the TV news I glimpsed at.

*

I heard on TV about enemy tanks. Enemy tanks? Tanks with enmity against us? Do they really mean the people in the tanks, and if so, why are they afraid to say so?

*

There's a mythology about protesters.

What do you mean, Arlene?

Well, there's a mythology that protesters aren't normal American people. Sure, NPR is interviewing little old ladies in Kansas who are opposed to the war (but who also clearly point out that they support our troops and want them home safely), but even from people in my office, or in the local paper, I keep hearing wacky characterizations.

Such as what?

Where do I begin? Okay, here's one: all protestors are unemployed. Apparently, all protestors live on air and love, because they don't have jobs.

A guy told McDonald, a 74-year-old retired trial lawyer, to get a job. The three protesters chuckled about that. "Jim works 50 years, and they tell him to get a job," said Roberta McLaughlin.

It's like it's all some people can think of to say. "If you were a real person, you'd be working yourself to death for a big screen TV every hour of the day like I am!"

Next would be that all protesters are old. I've heard even this from my former mentor at work. I've heard this on corporate radio, in a way that implied it was an insult. I've heard people suggest that the only people protesting the war are aging hippies with nothing better to do with their time. Yet, I've attended and photographed four major protests, and I saw people of all ages -- AND most races! -- participating. My cousin's photos of the February and January protests prove that there was age variety. Horror at the thought that older and wiser people expressing dissent against the government is silly. This is a senseless fiction made up by people who don't attend protests.

[I suppose the next myth I'll hear is that all the protesters are too YOUNG. To that I'll just say, 'that's what you get for not funding schools and after school programs properly, old fogies!' :-) But it's good that young people protest war: they're the ones who will have to live longest with its aftermath.]

Then there is the famous "protesters don't support our troops, and their protests will distract our troops and keep them from doing their jobs." PEACE ACTIVISTS, by definition, don't want people to come to harm. "People" includes soldiers. Many peace activists carry very obvious sings that say things like, 'support our troops -- bring them home now!' But this is apparently too subtle. (See my earlier blog entry about 'hating the sin but loving the sinner' for more on the ability to differentiate between soldiers and shooting people. It's possible to support one and not the other, because THEY ARE SEPARATE THINGS.)

The second part of this fiction suggests that troops get uncensored news. Please. (Any of you who listened to the recent reading of This American Life from a Gulf War I memoir know that, even if soldiers see their peers being bombed by their own forces, they are lied to about what the damage is to protect their morale.)

Another wacky fiction is that protesters shirk their duties, or are afraid to go to war. Three words: Veterans for Peace. And a few more words from an article I cited earlier: "Protesters from the Bay Area and elsewhere are expected to arrive within the next few days at the Los Olivos ranch of 78-year-old Elden "Bud" Boothe, who flew 15 bombing missions over Germany during World War II and now regularly protests at Vandenberg...."

A traffic report refutes national underreporting of the protests here in San Francisco. "Authorities had arrested more than 500 demonstrators, but said they expected more throughout the evening. 'These groups vary from 30 to 1000,' [acting police chief] Fagan said." This is a CBS affiliate, yet I'd heard that CBS national news announced 200 people total... Perhaps the national audience or more gullible than those here?

*

The New York Times' Protest Update:

Whatever the outcome on the battlefield, America was being pilloried in the street...

Only hours after the first American fire fell on Baghdad, tens of thousands of demonstrators brought Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne, to a standstill. By this evening, hundreds of thousands of protesters in cities across several continents were angrily denouncing the war as cruel to Iraq's civilian population, unnecessary and illegal....

In France, which is the most vocal opponent of the war, the American embassy and consulate buildings, just off the Place de la Concorde, were under heavy guard. Thousands of demonstrators assembled there, chanting anti-war slogans.

In Berlin, tens of thousands of students and others marched from the Alexanderplatz, in the city center, past the heavily guarded American embassy building and through the Brandenburg Gate, waving banners that read, "Stop the Bush Fire" and "George W. Hitler." Similar protests were reported in Stuttgart, Munich, Rostock and Saarbrücken.

In Italy, tens of thousands of antiwar demonstrators marched in Milan and Venice in the north; in Rome, crowds marched toward the American embassy, at the foot of the broad Via Veneto, but were held back by riot police.

In Athens, an estimated 80,000 demonstrators, mainly students and labor activists, marched peacefully, chanting anti-American slogans. American flags were burned outside the embassy building,

In Britain, thousands of antiwar campaigners blocked roads and traffic in cities throughout England, Wales and Scotland.

In Spain, another supporter of Mr. Bush, hundreds of chanting protesters stood outside the American embassy in Madrid.

I also like quotes from South American leaders, whose views I had not yet heard, in this same article.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, condemned the American position as an act of "disrespect to the United Nations and the rest of the world" that lacks moral legitimacy.

"All of us want for Iraq not to have atomic weapons or weapons of mass destruction," he said in Brasília. "All of us want a world living in peace, but that does not give the United States the right to decide by itself what is good and what is bad for the world."...

"We are against this war and we are not going to support it or take part in it," [said President Eduardo Duhalde of Argentina]....

"It is a tragedy," said Gabriel Valdés, Chile's ambassador to the United Nations. "Another tragedy is going to begin now."

"In a unique form of opposition, some protesters at the Federal Building staged a "vomit in,'' by heaving on the sidewalks and plaza areas in the back and front of the building to show that the war in Iraq made them sick, according to a spokesman."

See, even bulemics can contribute to the peace movement!

*

How's this for peace and justice: a "shoot-to-kill" warning from the military to anti-war protesters planning to infiltrate the coastal property of Vandenberg Air Force Base near Santa Barbara.

Protesters from the Bay Area and elsewhere are expected to arrive within the next few days at the Los Olivos ranch of 78-year-old Elden "Bud" Boothe, who flew 15 bombing missions over Germany during World War II and now regularly protests at Vandenberg....

"The only time a law-enforcement official should shoot is when his life is in danger," Boothe said. "We are in the peace movement. We are not going to endanger anyone. . . . I suppose they could shoot you, but they would be doing it illegally. But that doesn't help you if you're dead." ...

"If someone hangs a peace flag on one of their communication towers, that is not destruction," Boothe said. "If someone paints a peace sign on one of their buildings, that is not destruction."

A media giant is sponsoring pro-war rallies.

Some of the biggest rallies this month have endorsed President Bush's strategy against Saddam Hussein, and the common thread linking most of them is Clear Channel Worldwide Inc., the nation's largest owner of radio stations.

In a move that has raised eyebrows in some legal and journalistic circles, Clear Channel radio stations in Atlanta, Cleveland, San Antonio, Cincinnati and other cities have sponsored rallies attended by up to 20,000 people....

"I think this is pretty extraordinary," said former Federal Communications Commissioner Glen Robinson, who teaches law at the University of Virginia. "I can't say that this violates any of a broadcaster's obligations, but it sounds like borderline manufacturing of the news."...

Clear Channel is by far the largest owner of radio stations in the nation. The company owned only 43 in 1995, but when Congress removed many of the ownership limits in 1996, Clear Channel was quickly on the highway to radio dominance. The company owns and operates 1,233 radio stations (including six in Chicago) and claims 100 million listeners. Clear Channel generated about 20 percent of the radio industry's $16 billion in 2001 revenues....

In 1987 the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to cover controversial issues in their community and to do so by offering balancing views. With that obligation gone, Morris said, "radio can behave more like newspapers, with opinion pages and editorials."

This is the same network that came up with a list of songs, including John Lennon's "Imagine," that it forbid its networks to play after the September 11th attacks.

Protests around the world continue; protests in San Francisco keep getting bigger.

Despite this, I just heard that Tom Brokaw announced on the national news that there is a 'roving band of about 200 people' disrupting SF.

That is BLATANT and extreme misinformation.

*

Not to let loose my anti-car bias in my crowded home town, but as soon as the traffic reports said that there were protests downtown, why did so many people DRIVE TO DOWNTOWN SF?? Are these the same people who complain every year about the marathon and Bay to Breakers foot race, despite the weeks of pre-event publicity? Are they completely incapable of using their feet? [The protestors are blocking the motorized traffic, not the foot traffic. This is extremely obvious from both the reporting and the photos.] The chronicle is interviewing people stuck in traffic as if

Protests around the world continue; protests in San Francisco keep getting bigger.

Despite this, I just heard that Tom Brokaw announced on the national news that there is a 'roving band of about 200 people' disrupting SF.

That is BLATANT and extreme misinformation.

*

Not to let loose my anti-car bias in my crowded home town, but as soon as the traffic reports said that there were protests downtown, why did so many people DRIVE TO DOWNTOWN SF?? Are these the same people who complain every year about the marathon and Bay to Breakers foot race, despite the weeks of pre-event publicity? Are they completely incapable of using their feet? [The protestors are blocking the motorized traffic, not the foot traffic. This is extremely obvious from both the reporting and the photos.] The chronicle is interviewing people stuck in traffic as if

War draws condemnation
"The start of war against Iraq has drawn a barrage of criticism from leaders around the world and brought thousands of demonstrators onto the streets."

Mr Putin urged the US to halt what he called the unjustifiable attack on Iraq - an attack which questioned a basic principle of world order.

"If we install the rule of force in place of international security structures, no country in the world will feel secure," Mr Putin said....

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the military operation violated the principles of international law.

"They ignored the opposition of most countries and peoples of the world and went around the UN Security Council to being military action against Iraq," he added.

From the BBC's hourly crisis summary:

0651 China accuses the US of "violating the norms of international behaviour" and calls for its military to stand down before a full-scale attack on Iraq begins.

0110 Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev condemns US military moves, saying the United States was acting as if the world was its fiefdom.

*

I've just reviewed the BBC's international e-mail commentary page. It's a sad day when Russians refer to the US and it's allies as "Poor brainwashed people." But it's true. S tells me that more than half of Americans polled believe there is some connection between Iraq and Al Queda, even though reports from our government say there isn't. (They believe Bush's allegations, which he has never tried to prove.)

S also notes that an educator of his acquaintance hasn't even HEARD of the Guantanamo Bay prisoner of war camp, Camp X-Ray, where people are being held without access to their consulates nor the rights given to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. All she could say when she heard that people were imprisoned was, 'well, they must have done something bad, right?'

We used to make fun of Soviet citizens for believing in the flawlessness of their corrupt government. And now it's happening here.

The BBC page's commentary collection runs back and forth, from people celebrating war to those bemoaning it. Some of my selections:

"I just two minutes ago viewed and heard TV's first recordings of the initial airstikes. Those were absolutely the most unpleasant sounds my young ears have heard. What's worst is the feeling that there is really nothing I can do. We Americans could not elect our president, and the guy we ended up with refuses to listen to the people over whom he rules."

"Forgive us for we know not what we do."

"We are seeing today the greatest unilateral military action since Hitler's invasion of Poland. What happens next? We have stepped into an abyss. Now we do not know what we are doing. My only hope is that the people of Iraq will understand that the American people did not wish for this war. It was provoked and created by a government that has ceased to represent the people, a government that has no concern for the will of the people, no concern for human life; a government driven by ideology and economic interest. Today is a sad day in the history of mankind. No longer do the principles of peace, justice, and diplomacy, established after the Second World War exist. They have been replaced by a war that will create fear, suffering, and hatred. And America has ceased to be a beacon of freedom; she no longer has hope."

"Bush, Blair, Howard and company have had to work hard to lower themselves to Saddam Hussein's level. Unfortunately, they have succeeded, and we all will reap the whirlwind."

"I find it very frightening that we can just kill any leader we do not like. A sad day indeed."

And, for the big fans of American imperialism and the plan for US domination hatched by Hawks, some of which are in this Administration, there's this charming comment:

"Can't wait to see the stars and stripes over Baghdad. Let the American Century begin."

*

On the radio this morning, there was a discussion of an early missile strike intended for the Iraqi regime's leaders.

Host: You'd use a missile against one person?

Guest: [long, uncomfortable pause] Well... It would depend on where that person was.

*

"At an afterwork rally near San Francisco's toniest shopping district, thousands of people chanted and drummed before marching off into the rainy night. Police escorted the rain-drenched crowd, which was led by actor Danny Glover and stretched as long as six blocks." That's the protest I attended last night.

The speaker at the rally when we reached 24th Street and Mission made a good point. He said that, if you read the paper, you would think that Arabs had occupied the U.S., so great is the media hysteria. The fact that Iraq has not attacked us has been completely obscured.

The U.S. rules it's own people through fear.

*

I'm currently listening to Enemy Combatant Radio, which is alternating between punk music and cell phone reports from the protests blanketing downtown San Francisco. The hosts are awed by the intensity today, surprised to hear both chanting and police helicopters from their offices.

War draws condemnation
"The start of war against Iraq has drawn a barrage of criticism from leaders around the world and brought thousands of demonstrators onto the streets."

Mr Putin urged the US to halt what he called the unjustifiable attack on Iraq - an attack which questioned a basic principle of world order.

"If we install the rule of force in place of international security structures, no country in the world will feel secure," Mr Putin said....

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the military operation violated the principles of international law.

"They ignored the opposition of most countries and peoples of the world and went around the UN Security Council to being military action against Iraq," he added.

From the BBC's hourly crisis summary:

0651 China accuses the US of "violating the norms of international behaviour" and calls for its military to stand down before a full-scale attack on Iraq begins.

0110 Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev condemns US military moves, saying the United States was acting as if the world was its fiefdom.

*

I've just reviewed the BBC's international e-mail commentary page. It's a sad day when Russians refer to the US and it's allies as "Poor brainwashed people." But it's true. S tells me that more than half of Americans polled believe there is some connection between Iraq and Al Queda, even though reports from our government say there isn't. (They believe Bush's allegations, which he has never tried to prove.)

S also notes that an educator of his acquaintance hasn't even HEARD of the Guantanamo Bay prisoner of war camp, Camp X-Ray, where people are being held without access to their consulates nor the rights given to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. All she could say when she heard that people were imprisoned was, 'well, they must have done something bad, right?'

We used to make fun of Soviet citizens for believing in the flawlessness of their corrupt government. And now it's happening here.

The BBC page's commentary collection runs back and forth, from people celebrating war to those bemoaning it. Some of my selections:

"I just two minutes ago viewed and heard TV's first recordings of the initial airstikes. Those were absolutely the most unpleasant sounds my young ears have heard. What's worst is the feeling that there is really nothing I can do. We Americans could not elect our president, and the guy we ended up with refuses to listen to the people over whom he rules."

"Forgive us for we know not what we do."

"We are seeing today the greatest unilateral military action since Hitler's invasion of Poland. What happens next? We have stepped into an abyss. Now we do not know what we are doing. My only hope is that the people of Iraq will understand that the American people did not wish for this war. It was provoked and created by a government that has ceased to represent the people, a government that has no concern for the will of the people, no concern for human life; a government driven by ideology and economic interest. Today is a sad day in the history of mankind. No longer do the principles of peace, justice, and diplomacy, established after the Second World War exist. They have been replaced by a war that will create fear, suffering, and hatred. And America has ceased to be a beacon of freedom; she no longer has hope."

"Bush, Blair, Howard and company have had to work hard to lower themselves to Saddam Hussein's level. Unfortunately, they have succeeded, and we all will reap the whirlwind."

"I find it very frightening that we can just kill any leader we do not like. A sad day indeed."

And, for the big fans of American imperialism and the plan for US domination hatched by Hawks, some of which are in this Administration, there's this charming comment:

"Can't wait to see the stars and stripes over Baghdad. Let the American Century begin."

*

On the radio this morning, there was a discussion of an early missile strike intended for the Iraqi regime's leaders.

Host: You'd use a missile against one person?

Guest: [long, uncomfortable pause] Well... It would depend on where that person was.

*

"At an afterwork rally near San Francisco's toniest shopping district, thousands of people chanted and drummed before marching off into the rainy night. Police escorted the rain-drenched crowd, which was led by actor Danny Glover and stretched as long as six blocks." That's the protest I attended last night.

The speaker at the rally when we reached 24th Street and Mission made a good point. He said that, if you read the paper, you would think that Arabs had occupied the U.S., so great is the media hysteria. The fact that Iraq has not attacked us has been completely obscured.

The U.S. rules it's own people through fear.

*

I'm currently listening to Enemy Combatant Radio, which is alternating between punk music and cell phone reports from the protests blanketing downtown San Francisco. The hosts are awed by the intensity today, surprised to hear both chanting and police helicopters from their offices.

We gathered at Powell and Market streets just after 5. The crowd kept growing, filling the sidewalks on both sides of Market, until the police decided to close Market to vehicles. Most people had signs. Many people had bicycles. Danny Glover read a great poem to the crowd about the horrors of having bombed Iraq before, and the indiscriminate nature of the carnage.

It started to rain.

We marched down Market street, all the way to Valencia. We marched down Valencia, turned left, and then right onto Mission. The police escort was efficient: we had no problems with traffic, and drivers honked wild beats in support while waving from their windows. It was pouring rain. People shouted out of windows as we passed, sometimes audibly saying "Viva la Paz!" Sometimes they were drowned out by our shouts and chants, and just waved or signaled with their hands.

It was still pouring rain when we reached 24th Street at Mission, where the sound truck turned on, and asked us to assemble nearby so we could hear.

And there, standing with rain running down my face, holding my big, wet earth flag, I heard the speakers announce that the killing had just begun.

I went on vacation, and when I returned, my country had turned into the People's Republic of Texas. Not just 'old school,' but 'old west school.'

The alleged leader of my country had actually given the leader of a sovereign nation a 48 hour ultimatum to get out of Dodge, under the threat that a posse would come and bomb his ranch and everyone on it. And this same leader, who governed a state that leads the nation in death penalty executions, promised to stop executions once he takes control.

I never would have guessed that it would come to this. Never in a million cartoon years.

*

I got a strange message shortly before setting up this anti-war blog separately from my food blog. It suggested that humanity isn't ready for peace, and war is required because of the existence of ignorance and dictatorships, but that we're evolving and so war will gradually decrease over time.

That last part especially got to me. We've been here on this planet for a very long time, and if there's anything I'm not seeing, it's a constant and measurable progress toward peace, happiness, and fuzzy bunnies.

I'll reprint my commentary here:

-------8<---------

[on ignorance and dictatorships]
There are other, historical/institutional causes of war that should not be forgotten: the unnatural partitioning of land and people by distant and misinformed world powers; the arming of thugs (future dictators) who would otherwise never come to power, also by well-meaning yet misinformed world powers; and perhaps even an inability to achieve freedom through legitimate and peaceful means. (As a citizen of a country which won its freedom through violent revolution, I cannot say it was mere ignorance that led to that war: rather, a lack of an alternative means to reach a just outcome required the American Revolution to occur.)

[on the continuous decrease of violence over time]
This is interesting. WHEN will the world change to decrease the number of wars? I remember reading about 'the war to end all wars' fought by my ancestors in Europe. The war was fought, and yet "war" did not end.

When will the cycle of violence and retribution play itself out?

[on how we shouldn't coddle tyrants]
If only someone had said these wise words when the US government was supplying Saddam Hussein with weapons to use against his domestic enemies and our then-opponent, Iran!

Sadly, supplying Iraq's leader (the enemy of our enemy) with weapons failed to bring peace and stability to the Middle East. Similarly, arming and training the extremists of Afghanistan did not bring peace to the region. Ultimately, it endangered us here at home. War did not solve the problems there....

I believe that, through truly just policies... we can minimize the cycle of violence in the world.

If we are serious about ending war, we will not merely wait for retribution to cease of its own accord, but we will lead the way to alternative solutions: to hold all to the same standards (a fair application of international law and agreements); to protect the weak from those who unfairly exploit them (regardless of the size or politics of the oppressors); and to even-handedly respect the sovereignty of all (rather than supporting some despots while overthrowing others, and giving WMDs like candy to our friends, while punishing others for having them). In a just world, there will be much less to fight about.

I sincerely believe the US can, if it chooses, lead the world to a higher standard of justice, order, and peace through just, orderly, and peaceful means.


-------8<---------

I doubt that I changed the writer's mind, but I do believe that we can do better.

While I can't confirm this story directly, it was forwarded through the auspices of the excellent Project Censored, and so I post it here with a warning that the host site (gulufuture) is otherwise too surreal to deal with diplomatically.

In an interview with highly reputable former BBC chief news correspondent Kate Adie comes reporting on the US military's animosity toward reporters

I was told by a senior officer in the Pentagon, that if
uplinks --that is the television signals out of... Bhagdad, for
example-- were detected by any planes ...electronic media... mediums, of
the military above Bhagdad... they'd be fired down on. Even if they were
journalists....

And this time the Americans are: a) Asking journalists who go with them,
whether they are... have feelings against the war. And therefore if you
have views that are skeptical, then you are not to be acceptable.

Secondly, they are intending to take control of the Americans technical
equipment ...those uplinks and satellite phones I was talking about. And
control access to the airwaves.

And then on top of everything else, there is now a blackout (which was
imposed, during the last war, at the beginning of the war), ...ordered
by one Mr. Dick Cheney, who is in charge of this.

I am enormously pessimistic of the chance of decent on-the-spot
reporting, as the war occurs....

Here's a link to an article on French disappointment in Bush's rush to war.

Jack Lang, the former Socialist arts minister who now chairs the National Assembly's foreign affairs committee, was characteristically trenchant Tuesday morning:

"More than ever before President Bush proves himself to be blinded by his messianic fundamentalism.

"By deliberately violating international law, Mr Bush is encouraging all those who - in a world of fanatics - do not fear to use blind terror and violence," he said.

Contempt

You can hear the same opinions on a thousand radio talk-shows.

The verdict is almost universal: by unilaterally declaring war on Iraq, Mr Bush and his "poodle" Tony Blair have shown their contempt for the United Nations.

As war approaches the French cannot avoid the conclusion that their diplomacy has failed
Might and greed have triumphed over the international order, hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis will lose their lives, terrorism will be back with a vengeance and the Middle East turned upside-down - say the pundits.

I don't know how many of you have seen this item from last week, but it's been a popular topic in my discussions at home. It's an article about the official denial that bin Laden has already been captured.

The claim of Bin Laden's capture was made by a Pakistani politician, Murtaza Pooya, in an interview with Iranian radio.

He said the al-Qaeda leader was being held by members of the Pakistan and US intelligence services.

I don't like to harbor conspiracy theories that bin Laden's capture could have occurred and may be kept under wraps until it won't hurt the effort by the current US administration to start wars, but then again, I also can't believe other things that are actually occurring here in the People's Republic of Texas. So I am simply not jumping to any conclusions, while keeping my cynical list of belief options open.

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The witty interpretations of the U.S. government's terror alerts signs has moved. It is still a must-see.

Also a must-see: Michael Moore's open letter to George Bush on the Eve of War.